“It is key to note that Patrice Evra himself in his written statement in this case said ‘I don’t think that Luis Suarez is racist’. The FA in their opening remarks accepted that Luis Suarez was not racist. So asserted Liverpool Football Club. It seems to me that one of the toughest things to prove in life is that you’re not a racist. So keen are we to clamp down on the vile nature of racism, we don’t really give a comeback to those accused of it; it’s an accusation that sticks. If it’s just your word against your accuser’s, what can you do? How do you prove you didn’t say something? – because the absence of evidence means nothing.” Tomkins Times

Luis Suarez: The verdict
“This is not a piece about whether the decision to ban Luis Suárez for eight games is correct or not. In the absence of the FA’s full reasons, I don’t know that, and nor do you. The only thing we can say with certainty is that a three-man independent panel, convened by the FA, considered the submissions from both parties, along with any other evidence they may or may not have had, and determined that Suárez racially abused Patrice Evra. They then decided that this warranted an eight-game ban and a £40,000 fine, an aspect of the thing I’m going to leave alone because it’s boring.” Surreal Football

Liverpool furious as Luis Suárez banned in Patrice Evra racism row
“Luis Suárez has been banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 for racially abusing Patrice Evra, prompting an extraordinary response from Liverpool accusing the Manchester United player of being “not credible” and alleging that the Football Association had deliberately set out to punish their player even before hearing the evidence. In a statement that also calls for the FA to press charges against Evra, Liverpool described themselves as ‘surprised and disappointed’ with the ‘extraordinary’ decision to find Suárez guilty of aiming racist abuse at the Senegal-born Frenchman during the 1-1 draw at Anfield on 15 October.” Guardian